The Black Iron Atronach
by TheSilverboar
Summary: The portal of truth is supposed to be a door and doors open from both sides. What if Harry unsealed the portal on his end while being beaten by Vernon Dursley and wound up somewhere new. Wrong BWL story, alive asshole James and Lily Potter, Dumbledore, Ron, Molly, Ginny, and Hermione bashing.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Alright, this story is a genuine crossover of Harry Potter and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and the story of how Harry got to that world will be explained in flashback as I'm going through the story in the same order and timeline as the episodes of the anime. **

**AN2: I'm also referring to Bradley as 'King' instead if Furher but I can't remember if King was his name or his title in the anime. If I'm wrong just tell me in the review box and I'll fix the chapter.**

**AN3: While this is a crossover it won't cover much of the actual Harry Potter world as that is going to be in the sequel story.**

Black Iron Atronach

Chapter 1

-Mustang-

"The Freezing Alchemist?" he asked in surprise as he turned to his leader, King Bradley "He's here?".

"We received intelligence that he managed to slip in a few days ago which is why I summoned you. I need you and your men to smoke him out and bring him in.".

"Consider it done Sir!" he stated firmly, proud of the chance to impress his King.

Before he could leave though he noticed an amused gleam enter his commander's eye, "Oh and Mustang, one more thing. I'm placing our rising young stars at your disposal for this mission." Causing him to slump in on himself.

"Forgive me Sir," he asked warily "but are you referring to…".

"Yes I am," Bradley stated with a nod "the Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric and his brother the Black Iron Atronach, Hadrian Elric.

-Harry-

"Damn it," he heard Ed groan out "the Colonel's never gonna let us out of here, is he?".

"With us here it could go either way," he answered with a grin "he'll either want to keep us here to piss us off or try to get the case closed as quickly as possible to get us the hell away from him.".

"Then maybe you two shouldn't antagonize him so much." Al suggested hesitantly causing Ed to growl angrily while he laughed.

"But come on Al," he said, shaking his head in amusement "it's so much fun. I use a little 'fire power', change up my hairstyle, and BOOM, everyone thinks I'm his kid. I even had his assistant Riza fooled at one point.".

"Yeah, well we already bought our tickets to Liore so try not to make him too angry." Al pleaded desperately causing him to groan before relenting.

Suddenly he heard screams of fear and pain causing him to look down, seeing the flash of ice appearing as he pointed down at the alleyway, "There he is!" he called as they rushed down, seeing him kill two others before Ed growled and used his alchemy to make a spear and then throw it while Al went around to flank the guy.

"That's Alchemy." Their opponent stated after jumping back to avoid being impaled.

"What a nasty thing to do." Ed said as he walked out into the light.

"It is effective though, perhaps I should replicate it?" he added in as he joined his brother.

"You of all people should know great things require great sacrifice." Their suspect said, his face and eyes screaming of madness "Isn't that the law of equivalent exchange?!".

"The laws of Alchemy don't justify murder!" Ed snarled angrily before clapping his hands together and grabbed his spear, transmuting it into what he jokingly referred to as the 'Ed Bat'.

"No transmutation circle." The man breathed in awe causing him to smirk.

"Don't be too impressed," he said as he summoned a ball of fire in each hand and charged, crying out "Now!" as Al jumped from behind a corner and took a swipe at the man, causing him to duck while they charged forward, Ed taking the lead and swinging his bat as the man used his gauntlet to block it before grabbing Ed's right arm and activating the seal, causing Ed to grunt and stumble back.

"What?!" the man exclaimed in shock "Any water there should have exploded!".

"Well if it's any consolation, you ruined my coat." Ed growled, pulling the shredded red fabric away to reveal his autommail right arm.

"An automail right arm," the Freezer said, piecing the facts together "A young gifted alchemist, one who doesn't use transmutation circles, and has an automail right arm." At this point the man's eyes hardened "I know you," he growled "you are the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric. Which means the guy with the black hair is your twin brother, the Black Iron Atronach.".

"What gave me away?" he asked with a snort "the fireballs or the fact that I have two black automail arms with spiked knuckles?".

Isaac ignored him and pointed in confusion at Al "So it's not you?" causing Ed to growl and get a tick mark on his forehead.

"Uh, no. I'm their younger brother, Alphonse." Al admitted sheepishly.

"But he's a runt." Isaac deadpanned causing Ed to snap.

"Oh yeah?! Can a runt do this?!" Ed screamed before slamming his hands into the ground causing parts of the alley wall to shoot out and tightly pin down Isaac.

"I've heard the stories but I never could have imagined this," Isaac managed to get out, his voice somewhat muffled by his face being squeezed between stone "the Fullmetal Alchemist is just some little kid." Causing him to sigh and slap a pinch the bridge of his nose at the man's idiocy.

"Don't call me little!" Ed screamed, slamming his hand into the wall causing a hand of stone to shoot out and send Isaac flying.

"You know brother…" Al said nervously "I don't think he was talking about your height just there." Causing Ed to freeze before going back to growling.

"Well even if he wasn't he still pissed me off!" Ed yelled causing him to sigh in exasperation at his brother's antics.

-Mustang's Office-

"Looks like you underestimated your opponent Fullmetal." their commander, Colonel Mustang said smugly while he sighed in annoyance, Isaac having used a hidden transmutation circle tattooed on his hand to escape.

"Who is this guy anyway?" Ed asked causing him to sigh at how, once again, his brother didn't pay attention to things.

"You'd know this if you listened to the briefing like I told you to," Mustang stated smugly causing Ed to twitch "but Noooo, you had to go charging right in.".

"Okay, okay I get it, I'm sorry, whatever." Ed said quickly, trying to get the verbal dressing down to end.

"Well here's some advice," Mustang said with a smirk "next time a superior tells you to pay attention…you might just try it.".

"Come on Pops," he said with a grin, causing Mustang to twitch at the nickname "you know Ed's never going to be one to listen.".

"How many times do I have to say it?!" Mustang demanded angrily "I'm not your father?!".

"Are you sure?" he asked jokingly before summoning a fireball "I mean…who else has fire powers like these?" causing Mustang to slam his forehead onto his desk in exasperation.

"Moving on!" Mustang growled while he smirked and Ed shot him a thumbs up. "His name is Isaac McDougal or, as he was called in the military, Isaac the Freezer. He's a former state alchemist.".

"Specializing in water and ice based transmutations," he said with a nod "often using nearby sources of water for his attacks and, in emergencies, his drinking supply. His preferred method of combat though is to get close and either freeze or boil the water in a person's body. I even heard a rumor that he can use his own blood to transmute things. He served in the Ishvalan war before turning in his commission and going into hiding as soon as the war ended. ".

"While the blood is unconfirmed the rest is true…but how did you?" Mustang began before he gave a derisive snort.

"I'm the military Atronach, remember?" he asked with a snort, using his power to manipulate the water on the colonel's desk "I looked up the information on the State Alchemists, both current and former, that elemental based attacks like that in case I ever had to fight with or against one.".

"He does control natural elements," Ed said with a shrug "it would make sense for him to know about that sort of info.".

"Anyway," Mustang said, moving over to look out the window "after leaving the Military he joined the anti-establishment movement and has been working with them ever since so bringing him in is a top priority…whether dead or alive is up to him.".

"No way," Ed said softly "I'm not killing anyone for you." Causing him to sigh. He and Ed may be like brothers but there were several things they had radically different views on, this being one of the biggest. Ed refused to kill anyone no matter the cause while was willing to kill someone if they were trying to kill him or someone else.

"And that's your choice," Mustang said in understanding, this being one of the few areas that the Colonel would not mock Ed on "your orders are simply to help us contain him…nothing more.". The moment quickly ended when he saw Mustang smirk, "Off topic, have you turned up any leads to get your bodies back to normal?" causing him to sigh softly, an action which was mirrored by Al and Riza.

"Maybe if you ever gave us time to look!" Ed snarled but, before his brother could continue his rant, the door slammed open.

"Roy!" an overly happy voice called out, causing them to turn and see a man with spiky hair and rectangular glasses walking in. "How goes? Heard you let them put you in charge of catching the freezer huh? One nasty assignment, but hey, who knows, it may be that chance to earn that promotion to Central!".

As he saw the man go on his little happy rant, and Mustang subsequent annoyance, he snorted in amusement causing the man to turn to them. "Oh hey! My timing must be perfect, you three are the Elric brothers, right?". Rushing over the man grabbed Al's hand and began shaking it up and down rapidly, "Wow!" the man enthused "it's a real honor to meet the youngest state Alchemist ever! You're a real legend around here! I'm Lieutenant Colonel Mayes Hughes, a pleasure!".

"Um…you want Edward, I'm his younger brother Alphonse." Al said, pointing at Ed who was glaring at the now named Hughes and giving off an aura of death.

"You're the Fullmetal Alchemist?" the man asked in shock "I had no idea you'd be so…" the man trailed off, finally realizing Ed's less than happy attitude.

"Hughes!" Mustang called out "What are you doing here? Go home.".

"Actually I'm here on official business." the man said causing Mustang to do a double take before Hughes turned to them "Elrics," he said with an easy going grin "I understand you three don't have a place to stay tonight…" at this point the man's glasses gave of an ominous sheen "that means you'll have to come with me." Before Hughes's hand shot inside his jacked quickly as he began pulling something out causing Ed and Al to freak while he laughed, seeing that it was a picture.

The picture showed a beautiful woman holding a little girl while Hughes gave the wide smile that only a proud father could give "My wife Gracia and my daughter Elesia, we'd love to have you!" the man enthused causing him to grin.

A little while later they were standing in front of an apartment while Hughes got down and scooped up the little girl from the picture into a hug, while she laughed and squirmed "Ow daddy, your beard is itchy!".

"Like this?" the man asked happily while rubbing his whiskered cheek against his daughter's smooth skin "Itchy! Itchy!" causing him to laugh happily at the sight. "Look we have guests," the man said after a moment, "these are the Elric brothers.".

The little girl stared at them with a serious look before pointing at Al "Big brother," then at him "little brother," and then at Ed "littlest brother!". Causing Ed to grind his teeth angrily.

"Sorry little one," he said with a laugh as he knelt down to her level "you have that backwards. Ed here was born first, then me, and then Al. Al was born on opposite day though so he had to be the biggest a she can't do anything normal." Which caused Ed to not blow a gasket while the little girl made an 'oooh' of understanding.

Moving on they all sat down to eat dinner, dodging their question about Al not taking of his suit of armor by saying it was a form of Alchemy training and he was fasting at the moment, before their daughter Elesia turned to him to begin asking questions. "Why are your arms a different color? Why are they shiny? Why are your knuckles so point? Why is your hair black while theirs is blond? Why…".

"Elesia," Hughes's wife scolded her daughter "it's not polite to ask so many questions.".

"No, no, it's alright." He assured the woman before smiling at the little girl. "Well let's start with the easiest question first. My hair is a different color than my brothers' because I was adopted into their family a few years ago so we aren't blood related.". As he spoke he noticed Hughes looking at him with an intrigue that equaled his daughters. "As for the other questions…" at this point his smile faded away as he gripped his automail arms, remembering how he got them. "A bad man hurt me before Ed and Al adopted me as their brother…he destroyed my arms to the point that I couldn't use them. Thankfully my big sister Winry was able to make me a pair of metal arms but…" here he sighed and stood up. "I'm sorry, I'm not very hungry anymore." He said, giving a polite bow of his head before walking out to the room they had been shown earlier.

A few minutes later he sat in the windowsill of his room when he heard Hughes enter, "I'm sorry about any painful memories my daughter may have brought up," Hughes said apologetically "she can be extremely curious.".

"It's alright sir," he said with a sad smile "I just didn't think she was ready to hear what I went through to get these arms.".

"Would you mind telling me what exactly it was you went through?" Hughes asked as he moved over to sit in a nearby chair.

Sighing he leaned his head back against the window frame and stared at the moon rising in the sky, "I don't remember the first year of my life," he began "not really. Just flashes of a memory from the turning point in my life…I do remember the ten after that though. When I was a year old my parents abandoned me, dumping my on the doorstep of my mother's estranged sister who hated my 'family' with a passion where I spent ten years as a slave.". As he spoke Hughes gasped in horror, gripping the arms of his chair with enough force he was surprised they didn't crack "My bedroom for those ten years was the cupboard underneath the stairs, I was given the barest of scraps to eat if anything at all and if I ever disobeyed them, or showed up my cousin, or just if they were bored I would be beaten. Then, on the day I turned eleven, a letter came for me from the boarding school my parents had gone to for years that trained alchemists. My aunt and uncle were furious as they saw Alchemy as unnatural and they gave me my worst beating yet. The started by breaking my arms and legs in as many places as they could before using a knife to carve as many insults into my limbs as possible and then burning the skin to the bone. I somehow activated some sort of alchemical teleportation and wound up in an experimental array that Edward had been working on, the one that went wrong and cost him his arm and leg. They took me in and saved my life, gave me new limbs to use so I could walk again…I owe them everything.".

"Where are these people?" Hughes growled angrily "Your birth parents? Your aunt and uncle?".

"I don't know," he said with a shake of his head "I know it was some island of the continent but that's all…I wasn't exactly allowed out of the house much.".

"I'm sorry about making you talk about this Harry." Hughes said sadly, tears shining in the man's eyes as the lieutenant colonel bowed his head in shame.

"It isn't your fault sir," he said shaking his head "I've moved on from most of that by now, my family helped a lot with doing so. I don't care as much that I was a slave as I have a goal, to help others stay free. I don't care as much that my parents abandoned me because they thought I would be weak and my sister strong, it gives me a reason to push on. I don't even care about having these arms, I actually prefer them." As he spoke he sighed and looked up "I…I just don't want anyone else to have to go through what I did, I didn't want your daughter exposed to how cruel this world can actually be.".

"You're a good man Harry," Hughes said, walking over and giving his shoulder a squeeze "you'll go far in this world. If you ever need someone to talk to…my door's open.". Nodding his head in thanks he watched the man leave the room before returning to stare at the moon, feeling a little guilty about the partial lie he had told Hughes but he doubted Hughes would believe him…if he said he was from another world beyond 'the gate'.

**AN: I plan to divide each episode into two different chapters, sometimes more depending on the part of the story it is in.**


	2. Chapter 2

The Black Iron Atronach

Chapter 2

-Hughes-

Sighing softly he sat, staring at nothing as he went over what Harry had told him earlier when he heard the door open as his wife walked in asking "Maes dear, what's wrong? Can't sleep?".

"I guess not." He said, the faintest hint of amusement in his tone as Gracia sat down next to him.

"I know what's in that head of yours," she said as she got settled "you're worried about those boys…aren't you?".

"Yeah," he said sadly "I am…Harry more than the others after I learned about how he got those arms of his.".

"But I thought he didn't want to talk about that." Gracia said confused "How did you get him to tell you?"

"It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about it," he explained with a shake of his head "he just didn't think Elesia was mature enough to know the story…something I agree with completely.".

"What happened?" Gracia asked and he could hear the worry in her voice and see it in her eyes which only grew as he explained what Harry had told him. "How could anyone do something like that?" Gracia asked horrified before a steely strength rose up in her eyes, a look that every mother had "What are we going to do about this?".

"I'm not sure what all we can do to be honest," he admitted "he already has Ed and Al as his brothers, and mentioned a sister as well that made his arms and legs, but I'm not sure how receptive he'd be to an adoptive mother or father due to what his parents did as well as his aunt and uncle. I told him that if he ever needed to talk then my door was always open to him.".

"Plus there's how he'd be treated as a 'state Atronach'," Gracia said with a sigh "I know how the State Alchemists are referred to as the 'dogs of the military' and I doubt he's seen differently…imagine having to endure that at their age.".

"One's age isn't just determined by the number of years you've lived but what you've experienced within those years," he told his wife as he wrapped an arm around her "and no matter how much I wish it wasn't true…those boys have 'lived' and are 'older' than most of the people I know.".

-Harry-

Snarling angrily he looked down at the steaming corpse propped against the wall, faintly hearing soldiers in the background yelling for a medic. "How awful." Al said, horror clear in his adopted brother's voice.

"Looks like a steam explosion," he noted "raise the temperature of water fast enough and it explodes like a bomb. Combine that with the human boy being seventy percent water then you have a highly dangerous weapon.".

Before he could continue he felt the earth shake from several explosive blasts as he turned around to see miniature stone heads shooting out of an alleyway causing him to sigh along with his brothers, "It's Armstrong." They groaned out together before rushing over to help out their friend.

Getting to the alley they saw the Major facing off against Isaac causing them to charge in, Alphonse yelling out "Major!" in panic.

Instead of warning their friend like Al had probably wanted it instead just brought them to Isaac's attention as he turned around and flung his canteen at them where it exploded in midair into steam. Reacting quickly he shoved Ed behind Al while using his power to block it from hitting him, hearing the sound of footsteps running but being unable to do anything to stop Isaac as he was trying to get rid of the heated steam.

"Nice save Harry," Ed said with a grin "now let's go, he's getting away!".

"Come then young Elrics brothers!" Armstrong ordered seriously as they all ran off to try and catch Isaac.

-That Night-

Sighing softly he used his wind powers to manipulate a leaf in the air before the sound of running footsteps and panting distracted him. Looking down from the rooftop he was waiting on he grinned, seeing Isaac returning to the alleyway like he and Ed had suspected would happen.

"Stop right there!" the voice of Ed ordered from one end of the alleyway causing Isaac to grin psychotically while turning. "We figured that you were doing something important in this alley and that you would return to try and finish it," Ed explained "and what do you know…we were right.".

"There's nowhere to run!" Al declared proudly, his giant brother walking into the other alley entrance.

"We have both ends blocked and even the sky isn't open to you," he declared, using his wind power to float in the air above Isaac "so just turn yourself in so we don't have to end you.".

"Who said I was running?" Isaac asked, the man gesturing with his arms spread wide as the alchemy array he just noticed on the ground lit up with a brilliant red light, arcs of crimson lighting shooting out from it while the winds whipped around causing him to lose control of the winds holding him making him fall to the ground.

Before he could react more pillars of crimson light erupted from around the city, forming a giant circle as he realized what it was at the same time his brother did, "An Alchemic Reaction," Al breathed in aw "on this scale? That could only mean…".

"The Philosopher's stone!" Ed said with a fanatical expression causing him to sigh, pained by his brother's obsession with the stone even if he did understand it.

Thrusting out his hand he tried to control the Isaac's blood to use him as a puppet to end the transmutation only for his power to slip off, feeling almost like trying to grip a wet bar of soap. "I can't control him!" he called out "I think the stone is messing with my powers!".

Before any of them could continue the alleyway began glowing with an icy blue light as the water in the air began collection and freezing into an expanding ice pillar. Snarling he ignored the argument between Isaac and Ed and began trying to use his own powers to hold back the ice, feeling the same 'slippery' feel that he had felt before causing him to realize that any alchemic transmutation augmented by a philosopher's stone was immune to his atromancy.

Hearing the sound of metal tearing out of stone he turned as he saw the water in the canal had frozen into a glacier that continued to grow, faintly seeing a cackling Isaac climbing it before he took off running with his brothers. "Stand back boys!" Major Armstrong declared, going through several dramatic movements "And prepare for a demonstration of Armstrong Alchemy!".

"He's all your Major Muscles!" he called out as he, Ed, and Al ran behind their behemoth of a friend.

"Now," Armstrong declared, the man preparing his fist as the array on his gauntlets began to glow "witness the Alchemic Art that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!" before punching the approaching iceberg. Instead of being destroyed though the iceberg simply stopped before a new one shot off in a new direction, forming an L while Armstrong gaped.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ed yelled as the iceberg plowed through several buildings "You're just making it worse!".

"Guys!" he yelled, seeing the other ice walls forming around the city, the tops just showing over the buildings "He's turning the small arrays into a massive one! I think they're gonna meet at central command and freeze it over!".

"Damn it!" Ed snarled before turning to the Major "Major," his brother ordered "we're gonna try and slow him down. Can you handle the transmutation circles?".

"Consider them erased! I'm on it!" Armstrong promised with a nod before running to the alleyway.

Running towards the main iceberg with his brothers he heard Ed yell out "Not so fast!" as Ed and Al used their alchemy to create stone pillars to bring them to the top of the iceberg while he shot up using wind. As they landed Isaac used the ice to transmute an attack only for Ed to smirk and call out "Two can play that game!" while doing the same to counter it, knocking Isaac into the air where he hit one of the ice chunks and turned it into boiling hot water.

Reacting quickly he thrust out his hands to make a wind shield and stop them from getting hit with the hot water, giving Isaac enough time to get over and grab Alphonse's face mask and use the steam transmutation while calling out "Too slow!" as the helmet went flying, he and Ed getting knocked down as well by the weight of Al's armor. When Isaac took a step forward though Al's 'dead' body kicked up, Isaac only barely able to avoid getting hit as the man looked fearfully at Al's empty armor. "There's nobody in there!" Isaac said, backing up out of fear before the man's alchemic training kicked in and he could see Isaac puzzling it out "But that could only be true if the soul was bonded to the suit of armor.".

After a moment Isaac's eyes shone with realization, "I see," the freezing alchemist said with a nod "you and your brother lost arms while he lost his entire body." Isaac seemed to hunch over "you fools performed the ultimate taboo! Alchemy's one and only unforgivable le sin!".

At those words he stiffened, remembering the beating that had brought him to this world while his brother froze as well, likely remembering what had resulted in them losing their limbs or body. "Bad mistake bub," he snarled, lighting coursing across his metal arms "there are some lines you just don't cross and you fucking jumped over one. I may not have committed the taboo but I won't let you judge my brothers!" before he charged forward with a yell, Ed copying him as he slugged Isaac in the stomach, his spiked knuckles piercing a little ways into the man while Ed brought his fists down on Isaac's head.

Reacting quickly Isaac slammed his palm onto the ice, causing ice spears to shoot at them as they jumped back and Al ran forward, shattering the ice spears with a swipe while Isaac rolled off the glacier onto the ground below them while they slid down after him.

"You're done," he snarled as he summoned more lightning "there's no water for you to transmute here.".

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Isaac asked with an insane grin "I have all the water I need…seventy percent of my body!" before thrusting his arm out and causing a pair spikes made of frozen blood to shoot at them, pinning him and Ed in the shoulder as he wasn't fast enough to bring up a shield of earth.

With a wince he grabbed his shoulder as he shattered his blood spike, Al doing the same for Ed, as he and his brother dropped to their knees, Ed for the pain and him because the blood augmented by the Philosopher's stone caused him to shudder with revulsion. As they tried to get their breath back he saw the icebergs meet and Central command begin to freeze over while Isaac walked off cackling.

-Hospital Room-

"You know," Al began as he and Ed lay in their beds, the medics wanting them checked out due to any problems of having been stabbed by freaking blood that might arise "we never found out if he had a philosopher's stone.".

"He did," he said firmly "that's the only explanation I can think off as to why his blood had that effect on my and why his transmutations were resistant to my powers.".

Suddenly the door opened and he saw Major Armstrong walk in with a bouquet of roses, the man's sparkle blaring at full power causing him to pale as he knew what was coming next. "Greetings Elric Brothers," the man said softly "when I heard you were in the hospital…I DARE SAY NO MORE!" the man's calm voice gave way to a forceful one in an instant. "And as I suspected," the man continued, completely oblivious to their fear about what was about to happen "you both are in desperate need of my assistance!", Armstrong threw off his shirt with a flourish as he ended. "You need an example of a perfect physical specimen to speed your recovery!" the man declared happily "You see? You're looking livelier already!".

Before the major could continue the muscle bound man was pulled out by his ear, said appendage being pulled by a less than amused Gracia while Maes Hughes chuckled weakly. "Hey there boys," the lieutenant colonel said walking in "it looks like I got here just in time.".

"What are you doing here Mr. Hughes?" Al asked in confusion "Is there something wrong?".

"No, no," Hughes promised them "nothing like that. I just wanted to bring something to Harry here and let him know that the Fuhrer approved his request." Before handing him a box.

"What request?" Ed asked in confusion.

"I requested any notes that Isaac had in his hideout on his transmutations as well as his gauntlet and information about the tattooed array he had." He explained to his brother "I was hoping we could go through it all and not only expand your own library of alchemic knowledge but find new ways to work my powers as well. I requested not only the info from Isaac but for any other rogue alchemists that show up and the Furher liked the concept and approved it apparently.".

"Maybe you can finally learn alchemy then!" Al cheered excitedly causing him to smile faintly but a thought struck in his head. He already knew about his magic from the gate…but could he actually learn Alchemy as well?

**AN: Alright people I need some opinions here! I am undecided about whether or not Harry should actually learn alchemy or if he should just stick with Atromancy? What do you think? I also have to pick out a girl for Harry to be paired with and I want it to be an FMA girl so say which one you want in a review. **


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: MY major inspiration bomb for 'Death Reborn' has kind of fizzled out for the moment (and I have to plan out what they'll learn with the different levels for first years and such which may take a while) so I'm going to be doing a few different stories for the 'most inspired' slot each day until I find the one that will stay locked in.**

**AN2: To the people asking about if the Harry Potter world will show up yes it will but only towards the end. This is going to be a two story series with the first story, this one, being in the FMA world and the second being in the HP world.**

**AN3: Harry WILL be learning alchemy and I am still undecided on the pairing but I will say this: no slash, no Winry (she's with Ed), no Lan Fan (she's with Ling), and no Lust (she's going to be in a pairing with Harry in a story I'm going to write for the original FMA)**

**AN4: WARNING! THIS CHAPTER HAS THE SCENE WHERE HARRY LOSES HIS LIMBS IN A FLASHBACK! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

The Black Iron Atronach 3

Chapter 3

-Harry-

Calmly he stared down at his sketchbook as he drew out some rough designs for ways to upgrade his arms, the train he was riding on bouncing and shaking as they sped towards Liore. "Brothers," Al said softly, causing him to look up "the stories we heard…about the Priest in Liore…do you think they're true?".

"You mean about his so called Miracles?" Ed asked doubtfully "They say he can transmute flowers out of thin air, turn plants into gems, create statues out of nothing, and even provide food and wine for his people. It could be slight of hand with a disguised alchemy tattoo and hidden components, some trick like that.".

"But what if it's not?" Al insisted as Ed gave a somewhat hungry smirk.

"You're right," Ed said with a grin "if it's not then I guess all it leaves is the real thing, huh?".

"Possibly," he said while shaking his head "but keep in mind this proverb Ed, 'there are more things in heaven and earth than exist in your philosophy'. We don't know if these stories are true or if they're about a philosopher's stone if they actually are valid. For all we know he could have a new power like I do, some blessing by one of the guardians of the gates or even another power all together.".

"Fair enough," Ed said with a sigh "but I'm not going to stop hoping.".

"I'm not asking you too," he said with a small smile "I'm just asking you to keep an open mind.".

"What are you working on Harry?" Al asked him, looking over at what he was drawing.

"Designing some automail upgrades for my arms," he explained as he showed it to them, "a way that I can add the design of the gauntlet we got from Isaac into my current limbs. Maybe have interchangeable plates so I can have multiple Alchemy styles on hand.".

"But…you went through the gate like Ed did," Al said in confusion "wouldn't that give you the blessing to do Alchemy without a transmutation circle like him?".

"It doesn't work like that Al," he said with a small smile "I went through the gate, yes, but I wasn't given knowledge of Alchemy but knowledge of how to use my Atronach powers which I was given. Ed was shown Alchemy secrets, one of them was how to do circles transmutation. If he figured it out fully he could probably teach it to others, maybe even do the transmutations without clapping if he practiced enough and devoted enough time to researching it.". Sighing he leaned back in his seat and thought back to when he gained his powers and first passed through the gate.

-Flashback-

Lying on the floor of the basement he sobbed, his entire body filled with so much pain he thought he would go mad from the agony. He had always known about his magic, always known that it existed even if he couldn't use any of his power due to a man named Albus Dumbledore sealing it away when he was abandoned with his Aunt and Uncle. Every night it haunted his dreams, hearing the screams and yells, the bright flash of emerald light, feeling a burning pain as a scar was carved into his skull, and then the worse part when he vaguely remembered hearing his parents say how he would be useless compared to his sister…how they didn't want him. He faintly remembered the pain of his magic being sealed away, constantly growing and expanding, trying to force its way out of being contained as he suffered in agony which only earned him more beatings when his 'relatives' heard his whimpering.

They knew his power was blocked off, they knew he couldn't use any of it…but they still hated him for having been born with it. Every day he was worked to the bone to appease his 'masters' and earn the scraps of food they called his meals. He cooked, he cleaned, he did every damn piece of work around the house and took every beating they gave him but nothing would sate their bloodlust, if anything it grew with every passing year.

Today though had been his worse beating so far and he was sure that he would die from it. A letter from Hogwarts had come to him, the school having registered him the day he was born and still held that registry despite his core binding. The moment his Uncle had seen the letter his torture had begun as he was dragged down into the basement which his Uncle gleefully told him had been built to be soundproof before his 'justly earned punishment' was given.

His uncle had started by tying him down before taking a croquet mallet and began smashing away at his limbs as he felt the bones break. First in his right arm, then his left, moving down to his left leg, and then the right, even his hands and feet weren't spared as his Uncle smashed away until he felt his bones were more shattered than broken.

He had begged, pleaded, to be let go, promising that he would be good, promising that he wouldn't go but still the mallet fell, again and again breaking his frail and weak body further and further. When the hammer stopped falling he had thought, he had _prayed_, that his beating was over and that he wouldn't have to suffer anymore but his agony had only just begun.

His Uncle had taken a large carving knife out and gleefully began using it to cut into the broken, bruised, and bleeding flesh of his limbs as he screamed, his agony only worsening when he saw that his Uncle was carving actual curses and insults into his limbs rather than just random lines. Curse, freak, abomination, spawn of the devil, demon. Again and again he was marked by the 'crimes' his Uncle believed him to be, again and again he was mutilated for his Uncle's sick and twisted pleasure. Again and again his prayers went unanswered.

When his Uncle had put away the knife he had hoped that, perhaps, his Uncle was finally bored with torturing him only for his blood to run cold at his Uncle's next words. "I return you to the fires from which you spawned by their own heat you abomination. May you burn in Hell." Before taking a makeshift blowtorch and using it to burn the skin of his destroyed limbs down to the bone as he smelt the sickening scent of his flesh cooking and heard the shards of his bones cracking from the heat of the flames.

Now though he lay down on the cold, hard, floor of the basement as he sobbed, the flames having gone out and his Uncle having left to avoid his 'stench'. "Please," he whispered "someone…anyone…help.".

As he began to pass out he felt something within him shattering before a rush of power burst through the world and his vision went white. Suddenly he felt…different, his pain was gone as he looked around the white nothingness before turning around, as much as he could without limbs, at a coughing voice.

"Hello," a being that looked like a white silhouette said with a grin "I must thank you for freeing me.".

"F-freeing you?" he asked, his body feeling thrown off by going from sheer agony to feeling nothing in an instant "What do you mean?".

"Centuries ago," the being explained "I helped guard this world and tried to keep the balance of the universe in check. An aspiring Dark Lord wanted my influence removed and so did a powerful ritual involving the sacrifice of a thousand human souls to seal me away. The seal has been weakening over the centuries but when your core bindings broke with your plea for help it shattered my seal enough that I was able to bring you here and remove the destroyed limbs.".

"W-who are you?" he asked in a mix of shock and awe as he stared at the being, feeling no lie coming from it.

"That is a good question," the being said thoughtfully "I could introduce myself in the way that my brother always did but I feel that would be a bad idea.".

"H-how would he introduce himself?" he asked nervously.

Giving a sadistic grin the being altered his voice and answered "I am called by many names. I am the world, I am the universe, I am god, I am truth, I am all, I am one, and I am also you. You have dared to knock on the door, now, the door has opened.".

"That's creepy." He said with a shudder at the voice and what was said.

"I know," the other being said, switching back to the much more calming voice it had used before "but while my brother is known as Truth I prefer to be known as Fate, a force that one can choose to accept or to fight against.".

"S-so what are you going to do with me?" he asked warily.

"You have suffered greatly," Fate said sadly "more than anyone should ever have to. I can send you through my gate to the world my brother guards with a few…gifts to aide you. The first is the power known as Atromancy, the second is knowledge of how to use it, the third you shall see when you get there, and the others you will understand in time.".

"I…thank you Fate." He said bowing as much as he could without limbs "For giving me this chance to have a new life even with the way I am now.".

"And you won't have to worry about that for long," Fate said as he looked at the being in shock before the massive door behind Fate opened and small arms reached out to pick him up "one of my gifts will ensure that you're running free within a year my friend.".

As the door closed he closed his eyes and whispered "Thank you.". The gate itself was agony as he felt knowledge pour into his being about his powers over the elements and how the natural elements worked until, the a flash, he fell onto another basement floor but this one was clearly different. He could hear sobbing and see strange symbols throughout the room. His last sight before blacking out was a giant man in a suit of armor picking up him and another boy his own age with golden hair and eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Just a little note, whenever I update this story I'll try to add a second chapter within a day or two (so that each episode of the anime is completed roughly around the same time).**

**AN2: As for the pairing I've heard people suggest: Rose, Martel the Snake Chimera, Catherine Elle Armstrong (the Major's little sister). So these are the tree options for this story (as of right now as I can't think of other good choices) so vote which one you want in a review and why.**

The Black Iron Atronach

Chapter 4

-Mustang-

Sighing he walked into the office of his friend Maes Hughes, "Hey, Roy!" his energetic friend said happily once he walked in "You're still in central?".

"For now anyway," he groused "they're shipping me back to Eastern Command this afternoon.".

"Well aren't you the lucky one." Maes said with a cocky grin "Listen, the next time I see you, I expect you to have made Brigadier General, you got that?" before chuckling.

"Easy for you to say." he groused as he walked over, always perplexed by his friend's eternal cheerfulness.

"Well if you're leaving I might as well give this to you now," Maes said while handing over a clipboard "you might just find it interesting.".

"What is it?" he asked as he cursed himself for his own curiosity.

"The final report on Isaac McDougal," Maes said "I'm guessing it hasn't reached your office yet?".

"No," he grumbled in irritation before taking the clipboard and blinking in surprise at an unfamiliar term "Xing East Alchehestry, what's that?".

"Apparently that's something the people in Xing have," Maes said with an uncaring shrug "you've don't know anything about it?".

"No," he said shaking his head "it's the first I've heard of it.".

Nodding he handed the clipboard back and turned to leave, "Hold up," Maes said as his friend grabbed a jacket "I'll walk you out.". They were almost to the exit of the building when Maes asked "So, how are the Elric brothers doing? You keeping those boys out of trouble?".

"I'm their commanding officer, not their father." He grumbled before glaring at Maes "And don't you dare say that I'm actually Harry's dad.".

"I wasn't going to," Maes said in a serious voice that caused him to pause and turn, staring at his friend who looked ready to kill "that's one subject I'm not going to breach with Harry.".

"What are you talking about?" he asked in confusion, trying to figure out what had set off his usually happy go lucky friend.

"Y-you don't know?" Maes asked in shock before sighing and leading him into an empty room nearby "This is a bit of a tale Roy," Maes said "and it…well you aren't going to be very happy when it's over. Are you sure you still want to hear it?".

"Yes," he said firmly "and I also want to know how you know something about one of my subordinates that is not only clearly important but is something I don't know.".

"He told me," Maes explained "when he stayed with my family during the Isaac case. My daughter asked him about how he got his automail arms and he didn't answer her question. Explaining to me later that night that it wasn't a story he thought she was old enough to hear…a sentiment I agree with completely.".

"Tell me." He ordered, doing his best to keep his voice calm but he knew that he was scared about what would be said. Yes he found the Elrics annoying, yes he got irritated with Harry calling him 'father' all the time…but they were still kids and he had sworn to look out for them.

"Harry's limbs weren't lost in an Alchemy accident like Ed's were," Maes explained "he was tortured until his limbs were destroyed beyond repair.".

"Tortured?!" he asked in shock, having a hard time matching the cocky smart aleck kid with a torture victim "By who?".

"His Uncle." Maes said coldly as he stood rooted to the spot.

"H-how could his own family do that?" he asked in disgust.

"It wasn't just that Roy," Maes said sadly "when he was only a year old his parents gave him to said Aunt and Uncle because they thought he would be weak and worthless at Alchemy and they wanted to focus on his sister who they believed would be strong. He spent ten years as a slave before getting a letter inviting him to an Alchemy academy his parents had gone to but his Aunt and Uncle saw Alchemy in the same way the Ishaan's did, perhaps even worse, and they tortured him. They broke his arms and legs in as many places as they could, carved in cuts and curses into his limbs with a knife, and then burned them to the bone.".

"H-how on earth did he get away from that?" he asked in shock, collapsing into the chair behind him as he did so, "How could any child survive that? And how did he get to the Elrics?".

"He said he activated some sort of array accidentally that collided with whatever the Elric brothers were working on and somehow did an alchemical teleportation to bring him to them just after Ed lost his own limbs. He wasn't allowed out of the house much so while he didn't know where exactly his 'family' lived but he did know that it was some island off the coast of the mainland.".

Snarling he slammed his fist onto a desk, "I'm going to find them Maes," he said savagely "I'm going to find them and they're going to regret everything they've done. Those boys have seen Hell…I'd say it's only fair that we give some to their tormentors.".

-Harry-

Looking out into the dark sky as the train shot across the rolling hills he thought back to what had happened after he had woke up when crossing the gate.

-Flashback-

Groaning he opened his eyes slowly as he saw a room filled with white and he wondered if he was still at the gate. "Grandma!" a girl's voice exclaimed off to the side causing him to flinch "He's waking up.".

"W-where am I?" he asked weakly as he remembered being picked up by a man in armor.

"You're in Resembool," a young sounding voice answered as he turned to see the giant man in armor speaking "in the country of Amestris.".

"Well," an elderly voice said as he turned his head towards the door to see a blonde girl about his age and a little old woman "it looks like you're finally awake. Care to tell me how you ended up in these boys' basement?".

"I was sent," he said closing his eyes, knowing that in this case the truth was the best thing to use, especially with Fate having told him that he would find gifts and people who could help him when he arrived "through the gate.".

"What?!" a blonde boy he remembered seeing when he landed exclaimed "Y-you summoned Truth and his Gate as well?".

"No," he said, shuddering slightly at the thought of the 'introduction' Fate said Truth tended to do "I accidentally unleashed Truth's brother, Fate.".

"He has a brother?" the blonde kid asked, clearly sounding disturbed.

"Yeah," he said before frowning "but you said you met Truth…how?".

"W-we did something foolish," the blonde kid said, pain and anger shining within his golden eyes "we…we stepped onto Holy Ground…we tried…".

"We tried to bring our mother back." The 'man' in armor said weakly "W-we wanted to see her smile again.".

Listening closely he realized how childlike the voice sounded, too much like a child, and how the other boy was missing the two limbs which were bandaged as if the wounds were recent "Truth took something from each of you…didn't he?" he asked softly as he gazed at them. "Your limbs…and your body?".

"H-how did you know that?" the blonde boy asked in shock, recoiling back as if struck.

"Your limbs," he said sadly "they were only recently removed and your…brother. His voice is that of a child in the armor built to hold a full grown man. I remember Fate mentioning something about having to keep balance and how when I was sent through the gate I was given knowledge…Truth took those as a 'toll', didn't he?".

"What are you talking about?" the blonde girl asked in confusion while the old woman stared them down intently.

Before he could answer the room seemed to shake and darken, purple mist rising from the floor as he looked down and screamed, seeing a giant eye staring up at them before his world was consumed by light. When the light faded away he found himself in another white void, much like the realm of Fate, only a different being sat in front of the Gate of knowledge. The being looked almost identical to Fate but seemed to give off a different presence. "Hello," the being said and he shuddered, knowing now that it was Truth "it's good to see you young Alchemists and Atronach.".

"W-where are we?" the girl asked in fear as he noticed her clutch the old lady close.

"Truth!" the blond boy yelled angrily "Why did you bring us here you bastard?"

"Why that is simple Edward Elric," Truth said as he finally got a name to go with the face of the blond boy "I came to…explain the situation of your new friend here, as well as pass on some gifts that my brother promised him.".

"And what will these gifts cost?" Edward snarled angrily.

"He has already paid his price," Truth said and he was surprised to hear the genuine sadness in the beings voice, something Edward clearly noticed as well "from my brother he had gained Atromancy and the knowledge on how to use at least some of it. Along with that he sent him to you two in the hopes that you might be able to help him and he you. The next thing is something that requires the help of your…friends, here.".

As Truth finished the being turned towards the blonde girl and the old lady who flinched back "What do you want with us?" the old woman demanded "And are you telling me that you're the one who took my boy's bodies?".

"They tried to do what was forbidden and got more than they bargained for," Truth said with an uncaring shrug "they were given great knowledge but it came at a price. They do have a chance to get their bodies back but it will take them offering something of equal value to get what was lost. I have spent an eternity watching people try to get back what they 'paid' for the knowledge they received from my gate but none have ever succeeded.".

"B-but what do you need us for?" the blonde girl asked nervously while Edward and his brother pondered the words of Truth.

"To make our young Atronach there new limbs," Truth said with a rather disturbing grin before throwing a bag of what sounded like metal at the girl's feet "that is metal from his world along with a liquid that will actually allow you to heat it up enough to reshape it, once hardened though it will be indestructible. It was altered slightly so that, once attached to him, they will grow along with him.".

"Atronach?" the 'armor' asked in confusion.

"And what did you mean by 'his world'?" Edward asked warily.

"Instead of Alchemy he bends the natural elements to his will," Truth said with a wide grin "and by his world…well this is a Gate. And a Gate is simply a door…doors open from both sides.". As Truth finished the being snapped its fingers and they vanished in flash of light, finding themselves back in the room they had been in before, the bag of metal by the two women the only sign that it had actually occurred.

So his new life had begun as he began doing his best to help the Elrics. The two women, who he leaned were Winry and Pinako Rockbell, designed 'automail' limbs for himself and Edward, who insisted on being called 'Ed'. Ed's limbs were simple in design but highly functional while his were a solid black and had spiked knuckles on them. Ed had sworn to get back to full health within a year and he had promised to join his new 'friend' in that endeavor as he trained, struggled, and bled with his new comrade. He spent more and more time with the two brothers until the brothers two became three and they welcomed him as they're own, even Winry began treating him as a sibling and with Granny Pinako added into the mix he finally had a _real_ family.

Now though he stood next to his 'Twin' brother as they were being tested to enter the military. "Do you need something to draw transmutation circles with?" one of the examiners asked as he had to stifle a snort.

"Nah," Ed said lazily "I'm good." Before clapping his hands together and slamming them into the ground, slowly pulling them up to reveal a spear as he had to resist snorting, 'drama queen' he thought with a snicker at his brother who had helped save him from falling into depression.

"My," the Fuhrer said with a faint tone of respect in the man's voice "that's quite something isn't it?".

Quickly Ed rushed at the Furher with spear raised, he could tell that Ed was just trying to make a point, but when the guard pulled their guns he reacted and used his own powers to cause them to freeze before manipulating the water in their blood and body so they were holding their own guns to their heads. "You know," Ed said calmly "there are some who would see this as a good way to assassinate a VIP. In the future you might want to rethink the way you conduct these examinations.".

"That's very good," the Furher said idly "you clearly have nerves of steel young man.".

"Not really," Ed said with a snort "I know I have my brother watching my back and, as you can tell, your guards won't do much against him.".

As if noticing them for the first time the Furher narrowed his one visible eye "What is he doing to them?".

"It's called atromancy," he explained as he dropped his power and the guards collapsed to the ground, panting, "think of it like the opposite side of the coin to Alchemy, a way for there to be balance. While Alchemy takes something, deconstructs it, and then reconstructs it Atromancy takes a natural element that is already there, or the base of one, and reworks it to his will. What I just did to them was manipulate the water in their body to make them like a puppet.".

"Atromancy huh," Bradley said intrigued before smirking and turned to leave "well either way, you both still have much to learn about how the world works.". As the political leader finished the top of his brother's spear slid off and fell to the floor while the Furher walked off laughing "Good luck with the rest of your exams boys.".

"I didn't even see him draw his sword." Ed muttered in shock.

A few hours later he stood in the office of his new commander, Roy Mustang, as he and his brother were appointed with pocket watches. "The silver pocket watch of the State Alchemist," Mustang explained to Ed while handing over the box "it will serve as proof of your state certification. This envelope contains your certificate of appointment. And it would seem our Furher is not without a certain sense of Irony.".

"Why's that?" his brother asked idly.

"Nothing," Mustang said, waving off the question "but congratulations. You've just officially become a dog of the military.".

"By order of Furher King Bradley this document certifies that Edward Elric has been appointed to the post of State Alchemist and that he is hereby granted the title of Fullmetal." Ed read off of the sheet before turning to Mustang and asking "Fullmetal?".

"That's right," the officer said in amusement "along with their commission each State Alchemist is granted a codename. Officially you will now be known as the Fullmetal Alchemist.".

"I like it," Ed said with a wide grin "it's nice and intimidating. I think that'll suite me just fine.".

"Now you on the other hand," Mustang said while turning towards him "are being declared the Military's first 'State Atronach' and are being given one of the early designs for the Alchemist Pocket Watches that was rejected.". Nodding he opened the box to find a dark black pocket watch with a slightly more archaic symbol than that of Ed's "And your title…is to be the Black Iron Atronach.".

Grinning he turned to his brother "Fullmetal and Black Iron…I think we can work with this.".

-End Flashback-

Blinking he woke up, having drifted off to sleep as he reminisced, and saw the outline of the town of Liore approaching. "Wake up guys," he said softly as he jostled his brothers, even if he knew Al wasn't really asleep "we're here.".


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I have pretty much decided on pairing Harry with Catherine Elle Armstrong just so I can have Major Sparkles be his brother in law…that mental image is too much fun for me and I can have Olivier Armstrong 'interrogate' him when she finds out.**

The Black Iron Atronach 5

Chapter 5

-Harry-

Sighing he sat at a small café with his brothers, idly picking at a plate of food as he heard the sermon or, as the cook put it, 'soul food', over the radio. "So what are you guys?" the cook asked, eyeing them oddly which he understood, his Al looked like a man in full steel armor in the desert, Ed wore a full coat and gloves, while he had two metal arms "Street performers or something?".

Mentally fighting down the urge to chuckle at Ed doing a spit take at the question he pointed out "I know we look odd but that was kinda rude. Do we seriously look like street performers to you?".

"Yeah, that's why I asked." The man said with an uncaring shrug as Ed clearly fought down the urge to commit murder.

"Come on guys," his brother grumbled "let's go.".

Nodding he got up but winced when Al's helmet hit the roof of the small outdoor diner and knocked the radio up into the air as the cook's eyes widened. Reacting instinctively he shot his hand out and used his power over wood to grab the radio before it could hit the ground and set it back on the roof. "Amazing!" the cook said in awe as a crowed formed around him "You've been touched by the sun god, just like Father Cornello?".

"Um, who touched who now?" he asked as he tried to get out of the middle of the crowd. Sure he was a cocky smart ass and enjoyed good company but being surrounded by strangers as he was now could still send him into panic attacks and relapses.

"Hey back off," Ed growled, his brother recognized what was going on "give him some space.".

"It's not a miracle," Al explained as his giant brother began moving people back "it's atromancy. My brother is the world's only Atronach.".

"Atro-whaty?" one of the people in the crowd asked in confusion as people gave him a little breathing room as he sighed in relief.

"Atromancy," he explained "it's the ability to manipulate the existing natural elements, things such as fire, water, wood, and lightning, to my will. What I did there was make the wood in the radio float in the air and put it back on the rooftop of the café.".

"I've never heard of it," another guy said in confusion "are you sure you haven't been touched by the sun god?".

"I'm positive," he explained gently, understanding how important a person's faith can be to them and not wanting to insult their beliefs or start a cult following of his own "I was granted power as a way to…create balance with the existence of Alchemy. Alchemy takes something and changes it to suit their needs, I take what already exists and simply moves it to my will. My powers come from…something besides Leto.".

"Oh, Alchemists," one of the crowd said with a nod "I've heard of them.".

"Then maybe you've heard of us," Ed said smugly "we're the Elric brothers.".

"Wait, I know that name." one guy said with a grin as another continued "The Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric, is that right?".

Seeing people surrounding Al and bombarding his giant brother with questions he quickly backed away from Ed who was grinning, eyes closed, and waited for the inevitable explosion "Now wait!" AL called out "It's not me!".

Slowly the heads turned back over to the twitching form of Ed "You mean it's the little guy?" one of the villagers asked in surprise.

"Who's little?!" Ed roared as people began to freak out due to his brother's temper "Come say that to my face I dare ya!".

"So what's with that guy on the radio?" he asked the cowering villagers to give them, and his brother, something else to thank about.

"T-that's our leader, Father Cornello." The cook said, shaking in fear. Quickly the other villagers began to speak up.

"We were lost before he came to town and began teaching us all the ways of the sun god Leto."

"He grants eternal life to the souls of the faithful.".

"He can even resurrect the dead! His miracles are proof that what he says is true!".

"So this guy is claiming he can bring the dead back to life?" Ed asked lowly and he winced internally, knowing that 'necromancy' was a…sensitive topic for his brother. "Now that's something I gotta see.".

A few minutes later they were standing at the back of a crowd, watching the supposed 'Prophet' get cheered on before catching a small flower and turning it into a pair of gemstone flowers that were massive. Frowning he focused his water power in an attempt to twitch the man's pinky but felt the same 'slick' feeling he had felt on Isaac. "So that's it huh?" Ed asked "What do you think?".

"There's nothing to think," Al answered instantly "that's alchemy. No doubt about it.".

"But somehow he's ignoring the law of equivalent exchange," Ed continued "he should have only been able to transmute that flower into an object of equal mass.".

"And he's turning organic matter into inorganic matter," Al said nodding "he shouldn't be able to do that. Unless…".

"He has a stone," he spoke up "I already tested it. He is protected from my atromancy the same way Isaac was.".

"Perfect." Ed said with a savage grin.

They waited and watched, seeing the other 'miracles' that the 'prophet' would perform as the crowd thinned to go about their daily lives, Father Cornello going somewhere inside the church as did a girl who he noticed stepping up to an altar to pray. "Come on guys," he said gesturing towards her "she might be able to get us an appointment with their prophet.".

Stepping in they heard a girl praying for Leto to 'bring someone back' as he sighed, knowing that Ed was going to go on a full blown cynic rant. "So," Ed began "this is the almighty Leto.".

"Welcome," the admittedly attractive girl said as she got to her feet "are you interested in Letoism?".

"Can't say that I am," Ed said with a shrug "not really the religious type.".

"Well I'm sorry to hear that," the girl said with a small smile "to know Leto is to know hope, if we believe in divine grace. And through him, all things are possible. If you believed…I'm sure Leto would bless you and make you grow taller!" she cried out sincerely as he grabbed Ed by the collar of his shirt and held his angry brother back while trying very hard not to laugh.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ed demanded angrily as he sighed.

"Easy brother," Al pleaded "she's just trying to help.".

With a grunt Ed threw himself down onto a pew "What about bringing the dead back to life?" the Alchemist asked in a dangerous tone that only he and Al picked up on "Do you believe that's possible too?".

"Yes." Rose said with a smile.

Seeing Ed take a small booklet out of his pocket he groaned softly and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Water: thirty five liters, carbon: twenty kilograms, ammonia: four liters, lime: one point five kilograms, phosphorous: eight hundred grams, salt: two hundred and fifty grams, salt peter: one hundred grams, and various other trace elements.".

"Huh?" the girl asked, as she looked like her brain had shorted out.

"That list makes up the complete chemical make up for the human body of the average Adult." Ed said, snapping the booklet closed and leaning down "It's been calculated down to the last microgram but still…there's never been a successful case of creating a human life. And you're telling me something modern science can do, you can do with prayer?!" Ed finished, all but demanding at the end.

"Lift thy voice to Leto!" she cried out "And the prayers of the faithful will be answered!".

"Those ingredients I mentioned," Ed said, leaning back with a smirk "did I mention that a kid can buy them down at the market for the spare change in his pocket. As it turns out, humans are pretty cheap.".

"No," the girl said, her voice shaken "we…we're all children of Leto. Created in his image.".

"You have to understand," Ed began "we Alchemists are scientists. We don't believe in unprovable concepts like creators or gods, we observe the physical laws that govern this world…to try to learn the _truth_.". At that he sighed, knowing that Ed did believe that some sort of power existed but wasn't exactly religious, all of them having met Truth before. "It's Ironic," Ed continued "through the application of science we have, in many ways, been given the power to play gods ourselves.".

"So you're putting yourself on the same level as Leto?" the girl demanded "That's sheer arrogance!".

"You know, there's an old myth about a hero who flew on wings made of wax." Ed began calmly "But when he got too close his wings melted and he came crashing back down to earth. Right Al?".

"Ed." He said warningly as his brother jumped to his feet.

"I'm sorry miss, this is difficult to ask." Ed began grandly "But do you think you're Father Cornello could even save an arrogant scientist like me?" as he had to stifle a groan at his brother's overdramatic habits.

"Of course, that's wonderful!" the girl said enthusiastically "If anyone can lead you to Leto's light, he can! Follow me.".

Sighing he walked up next to her as Ed and Al trailed behind, "I'd like to apologize about my brother," he said softly to the girl as she glanced at him "some of your beliefs…well they brought up some bad memories for him.".

"What do you mean?" the girl asked confused.

"Your belief about bringing people back to life," he explained "Ed and Al back there…they lost their mother a few years ago and their father never even showed up to the funeral. They lost any semblance of faith then and refuse to believe in the possibility of resurrection.".

"Y-you say 'their mother' and 'their father'," the girl said softly "d-did you not get along with them?".

"I was adopted into their family a few years after their mother died," he explained "so I never got to meet her. Ed and AL, my honorary sister Winry and her grandmother…they're the only family I have left…that I'm willing to accept as family anyway.".

"What happened to the family you were born with?" Rose asked fearfully.

Turning to her he held up his metal arm "It is because of them that I need these." He said softly before trailing back to walk with his brothers as Rose stared at him in shock before continuing on.

They were led to a large man who introduced himself as 'Cray' and eventually led them down to a lower floor, "This way please," Cray said "Father Cornello is a busy man, as you can imagine, but he has agreed to meet with you.".

"Yeah thanks," Ed said with a nod "we understand. We won't take too much of his time.".

"Then it's agreed…we'll make this quick." Cray said before spinning around and pointing a pistol at Al while the doors were slammed shut and the 'brothers' of the order tried to cage him and Ed with spears.

"Brother Cray," the girl, Rose, exclaimed in shock "what is this?".

"Rose, these Heathens have come to destroy and discredit the Father," Cray answered with a scowl "they're evil. This is Leto's will.".

"Well like you said, let's make this quick!" Ed said, grabbing one of the brothers and flipping them while he picked one up and threw them with the aide of some wind control as Al punched Cray away, the gun sliding in front of Rose.

"What's this commotion?" a new voice demanded as he turned to see the false Prophet stepping out of the shadows. "Ah, the Fullmetal Alchemist, welcome to the home of our sacred order.".

"Father Cornello!" Rose said excitedly.

"I would like to apologize for my disciples behavior," Cornello began "it would seem they've been misguided.".

"Alright," Ed scowled "let's assume I believe you weren't the one guiding them. What next?".

"Have you come to learn the ways of Leto?" the man asked and he could hear the hope in the Fraud's voice at the possibility of having people as powerful as him and his brothers in the 'order'.

"Well there are a few things I'm curious about," Ed said angrily "like how you've been using second rate Alchemy to trick you followers.".

"Your ring has a philosopher's stone upon it," he said lowly as he pointed at the stone "and don't bother lying. One of my powers gives me the ability to 'test' someone to see if they carry a stone and you passed with flying colors.".

"Ah yes, the legendary Atronach," Cornello said with a glower "the man with the powers of a god according to some. You brothers really are quite the incorrigible heathens aren't you? Rose dear, that gun there, pick it up.".

"Uh…okay." Rose said softly as she reached down and picked up the weapon, the girl clearly still trying to process everything that had happened.

"Now child," Cornello said with a grin "I want you to shoot the Fullmetal Alchemist.".

"No…I…Father I can't do that!" Rose exclaimed in horror.

"I am Leto's chosen emissary," Cornello said with a sickening glee "my word is the word of the sun god himself. Shoot him Rose, it's Leto's will.". Rose shakily lifted the gun but he could see her turmoil as she fought with herself "Why hesitate?" Cornello asked cruelly "When your fiancé died in that tragic accident last year, who saved you from the depths of despair? Have you forgotten?".

"It was you father." Rose said softly but in the tense room it seemed to thunder.

"That's right!" Cornello declared manically "it was I who took your hand and led you into Leto's light! And do you recall what it was that I promised you then?".

"You said if I had faith you'd bring him back to life!" Rose yelled before pointing the gun at Al.

"No wait!" Al yelled out "It's not me, honest!".

At those words Rose and Cornello seemed to freeze before turning to a furious Ed who ranted "Damn it! I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist! It's not him, it's me!".

"It's the short one?!" Cornello demanded "You're kidding!".

"I'm sorry," Rose cried "I have to do this. I don't have any choice.".

"Yes you do Rose," he said coldly "you have the choice between doing what is right and what is easy. If you let that man continue to lie to you for the rest of your life it will be the easy path…thinking for yourself, moving past his lies…that is the harder path.".

"He's been lying to you Rose." Ed added.

"You're lying!" Rose yelled "I've seen his miracles! Father Cornello will bring him back, I have faith!".

"Fine," Ed glowered as he subtly made a wall of solidified air in front of his brother "then shoot.".

Rose started shaking as she fought an internal war before she reared back with a yell and fired the pistol, the bullet knocking Al's helmet off as his brother fell to the ground.

As Rose stared at Al's body in horror Cornello smirked "Good child, Leto is pleased. Now, pick up the gun and shoot the others as well.".

"Haven't you made her do enough?" Al demanded as his metal sibling rose up.

"B-but…you're head!" Rose exclaimed in fear.

"Don't worry about it, he's pretty solid." Ed said, knocking a fist against Al's breastplate.

"Yeah, see?" Al asked, bending over to show his hollowness "No harm done.".

"You see?" Cornello demanded "An empty suit of armor that walks and speaks! Do you still doubt it Rose? This unholy thing is an abomination, evil of this kind must be purged!". Hearing a switch thrown he turned at the sound of a door raising to see a chimera that was a mix of lion, alligator, and rooster stalking out "And I think my chimera should be up to the task.".

"So this is the sort of thing you do with the Philosopher's stone?" Ed asked calmly "That's just twisted. Anyway, it looks like I'll need a weapon." Before clapping his hands and creating his spear.

"No transmutation circle?!" Cornello demanded in shock "So the State Alchemist title isn't just for show, you truly are gifted. However," as the Lion lunged forward Ed took a stance only for the claws of the beast to slash through the spear and the pants of Ed's leg "it's no match for Chimera claws that tear through iron!".

"You shredded my pants." Ed said with a smirk before kicking away the monstrosity with the automail leg "But I guess those claws don't do so well against steel.".

"Bite him you stupid beast!" Cornello roared as the lion obeyed its master and charged at Ed, biting down on his brother's automail arm.

"You like that kitty?" Ed demanded as the beast tried, and failed, to bite through the automail "Then have a good taste!" before kicking up and knocking the creature out.

"Your arm." Cornello gasped as the gleaming steel appeared, "And that of your twins, and a brother trapped in armor. I see, it's all become clear now. You did it, didn't you? The one thing even the most novice alchemist knows is strictly forbidden!".

"Why don't you come down here and try us?" he demanded as he let lighting crackle down his arms.

"We'll show you real quick who the novice is!" Ed finished up.


	6. Chapter 6

The Black Iron Atronach

Chapter 6

-Harry-

"Rose!" Cornello snarled out, genuine anger in the man's eyes "Do you see now the proof of their sin? These fools attempted Human Transmutation, the greatest Taboo for any Alchemist. In their arrogance they tried to bring someone dead back to life.".

"Like you're one to talk," he growled "isn't that what you keep promising your followers you're going to do.".

"This is what happens when you try to play God or whatever you want to call it," Ed growled "take a good look Rose…is this what you want?".

"So this is the great Edward Elric," Cornello laughed "not even half a man, hell, not even half a boy!".

"And what about you?" he demanded "You're just a fraud that can't do shit without a Philosopher's stone!".

"Father," Al pleaded "we just want you to hand over the stone before you get hurt.".

"Don't be absurd." Cornello sneered "Why? So you can use it for yourself? Please," Cornello's ring began to glow as the cane in the 'prophet's' hand began to glow and shift into a mini gun "if you fools are so eager to play God…maybe I should send you to meet him instead!".

The moment he saw the mini gun's barrels begin to spin he raised a thick wall of stone to block their barrage, a cloud of dust rising from the rapid impacts against the barrier. "Nah," Ed spoke up with a smirk "me and God don't get along to well. Even if I went he'd probably just send me right back here.".

Quickly Al scooped up Rose and took off towards the door as Cornello opened fire, Rose's screams mixing in with the hail of gunfire. "This way!" he yelled as he ran at the wall, cocking back his fist and punching it as he used his control over earth to blow the wall outward and create an escape for them to use.

As they ran down the long corridor he heard Cornello run out after them, screaming "Well don't just stand there, after them! These Heathens seek to harm the order, they must be stopped!".

Ahead of them he saw a blockade of Order members smirking at them, "That's far enough boys." One of the larger ones said cockily.

"You're unarmed and outnumbered."

"Just come quietly, we don't want to have to rough you up.".

Sharing a glance with his twin they both continued running and gave savage grins, Ed transforming his arm into a giant blade with scoops, filigree, and a saw edge while he summoned balls of fire in each hand as they both cackled and the 'blockade' began to panic before being sent flying. Around the corner they could hear another 'brother' call out "Don't go easy just because they're kids, you got that?" as he saw Al's countenance darken, the subtle nuances of the armor having been picked up over the years, as his younger brother ran out and kicked the guard across the face with the steel boot as they continued running down the hall, laughing happily at the thrill of the fight.

-Al-

What do you think of Cornello now Rose?" he asked as he sat down a large bell and began working on using alchemy and wiring to turn it into a speaker "He just opened fire, he didn't care that you were in the way.".

"T-that's because…" Rose tried to deny before she sighed and looked away. "What he said back there is true…isn't it?" she finally asked him as he paused in his work.

"We're not evil," he said sadly "all we wanted was to see our mom's smile again. But our transmutation failed…what we made…it wasn't even human. We learned our mistake the hard way. People don't come back from the dead Rose…not now, not ever.".

"That's not true!" Rose denied in a horse whisper as her beliefs came crumbling down "I mean…"

"Alchemy is based upon equivalent exchange," he continued "the price of even a failed transmutation was enormous. It cost Ed his left leg…and it cost me my whole body.". As he explained he removed his helmet and leaned down so that his blood seal was showing, "Do you see it?" he asked the girl "My brother drew that with his own blood. His leg was taken, he was bleeding," he could feel his voice begin to shake as he talked and knew that if he had his body tears would be coming from his eyes "I can't imagine the pain he was in. But through all that he gave up his right arm to transmute my soul, bonding me to this suit of armor.". As he began drawing his transmutation circle he continued "Now, I just want to find a way to get his body back to normal, he wants to find a way to help me get my body back too. It won't be easy, we might even get killed along the way, but all we can do is keep moving.".

"But…but Father Cornello…he said he could do it…" Rose sobbed as he looked up at her "he promised me…just because you and your brothers failed it doesn't mean he will!".

"You'll soon see Rose," he said sadly as he finished his transmutation "and Harry had nothing to do with our taboo…he never committed our sin. He was sent to us so we could help to heal him and so he could help us heal in return. He became our brother as we lived, fought, and trained together. But his limbs…" here he slammed his fist into the side of the bell tower roof, cracking the stone under his anger "His parents abandoned him when he was a child Rose," he growled "they abandoned him because they thought he would be weak. He was given to an Aunt and Uncle who viewed things like Alchemy as demonic and evil…Harry spent ten years of his life as a slave before he was tortured in a way that destroyed his limbs beyond repair and he was rescued. Hate me if you must, hate Ed if you will…but Harry has done nothing to deserve it.".

-Harry-

Smirking he sat with his brother on 'Father' Cornello's desk, a little…surprise set up for the false Prophet. He was just about to ask his brother when he thought Cornello would come along when they heard footsteps and saw the man run past the door only to backtrack and glare at them, "There you are you infernal brats!" Cornello growled.

"Look can we cut the crap here?" Ed asked with the usual wild grin "All I want are some straight answers about the stone. Tell me what I want to know and we'll be on our way…or we could get the military involved.".

Cornello growled, looking around for any eavesdroppers, before sighing and closing the door, "Ask your questions." The 'Prophet' ordered resignedly.

"You could do anything with the Philosopher's stone, right? So why waste all that power performing phony miracles?".

"Because with each Miracle I can attract new believers to the Order," Cornello growled, a power hungry gleam in the man's eye "believers who would lay down their lives for my sake. I'm slowly building an army, a legion of holy warriors unafraid to die. In a few more years I'll be ready to unleash this mindless horde upon the world, and I'll use the philosopher's stone to tear this country apart. Who knows, I might even carve a slice out for you two and your brother." As the Prophet finished the man began to laugh in a sickening glee at the thought of war. He and his brother were laughing as well but for a much more…logical reason. "Hey wait, why are you two laughing?" the confused priest demanded.

"I knew it," Ed grinned "you really are a novice, aren't you?" as Ed held up the 'on' switch for the recording equipment and he pointed to the microphone at the Prophet's feet.

"Why you…" Cornello snarled "how long has that bee on?!".

"From the start," Ed said with a wide grin, "your 'believers' heard every word.".

"How could you?!" Cornello demanded as if betrayed causing him to snort "You'll pay dearly for this!".

When the prophet began to turn the cane, again, into a mini gun he shot a small bolt of lightning at the man, stiffening Cornello's muscles as Ed ran forward and sliced through the appearing gun with his arm turned into a sword blade. "Sorry bub," he said with a smirk as he readied a fireball "not today.".

"Just face it," Ed snarled "you're outmanned, outclassed, and just plain old outmatched.".

"I am without Rival!" the mad priest yelled, attempting to transmute the remains of the gun as a harsh red glow filled the room before bursting apart in a flash of red lightning to reveal that the transmutation had rebounded upon Cornello, misshaping the man's hand and arm as wires and guns grew out of the arm and fingers. "No!" Cornello yelled, hunched over from pain "I will not be defeated like this! Now boy, behold the chosen emissary of the sun god Leto!", Red lightning coursing around the man's body as Cornello's voice deepened and the prophet grew to a monstrous size.

"It's official," he said, readying his fists "he's lost it.".

"That implies that he had it to begin with." Ed said with a smirk as they prepared to take on the monstrous priest.

Leaping back they avoided the giant trying to tackle them as the man burst through the wall and into the main hall of the church, dodging the slow monstrosity's punches as they looked for a way to beat the beast. When they dodged a punch from the 'gun arm' though they were barely able to block a punch from the normal fist as they both tried to hold it back. "My word is the divine word of Leto himself!" the insane giant roared "My first is the almighty fist of judgement!".

"Go!" he yelled at his brother as he held back the fist "I got him!".

"Fist of God huh?!" Ed yelled as his brother stopped blocking the fist while he took the weight, "if that's what you want then you can have it!" before his brother transmuted the giant Leto statue so it's fist shot out and slammed into the Giant, sending the fool flying back and ending the size transmutation.

Growling he ran forward and grabbed the man's head before slamming his forehead into Cornello's nose, "Now," he roared as his brother leapt down from the statue "give us the Philosopher's stone!" only for said stone to dull inside the ring and fall out, cracking apart and turning to dust as he and his brother watched in shock.

"A fake," Ed said in despair, the State Alchemist falling to his knees "all along it was just a fake.".

"We went through all of this," he snarled angrily "risked our lives for this one chance to get you and AL your bodies back…and it's a fake?!" slumping over in despair as did Ed while Cornello begged and pleaded to be spared.

"So, uh, what about me?" Cornello asked them weakly.

"I don't care what you do just get out of here!" he roared, flames coating his body as he, quite likely, appeared demonic to the mad priest.

A few hours later they stood outside the church as Al walked up to them and the explained what had happened with Cornello, "But what about the stone?" Al asked in confusion.

"A fake," he said sadly "Just like him. I'm sorry Al but it doesn't look like we'll be getting you or Ed your bodies back today.".

"Give me the Philosopher's stone!" a new voice demanded as they turned to see Rose pointing the pistol from before at them.

"Like we just told Al," he said sadly, recognizing the look in the girl's eyes "it was a fake…it wasn't real. Besides, it shattered anyhow.".

"Liars!" Rose yelled at them, tears pouring down her face "You want to keep it for yourselves, don't you?! To use it on our bodies, that's right, and to try to bring your mother back again!".

"You shut up!" Ed yelled at the girl as he sighed and stepped back, knowing that this was something Ed had to handle himself. "People don't come back from the Dead Rose," Ed told her, tears welling in his brother's eyes "not now…not ever.".

"But he promised me!" Rose sobbed "He said if I prayed it would happen!". Sighing he and his brothers began walking forward, "That hope was all I had left!" Rose yelled at them as tears poured from her eyes "What am I supposed to believe in now?!". "Tell me what to do!" she pleaded of them as they passed her, "Please!".

"We can't tell you that Rose," he said as he paused and looked back at the girl "it's something you have to find for yourself, a reason to fight… to push on. You've got a good pair of legs Rose, stand up and use them, keep moving forward. You're strong enough to make your own path.". With that he turned back to his brothers as they continued onward, doing what he had just told Rose to do…they kept moving forward.


End file.
